In this image provided by ESPN, commentator Mark Jackson is shown on the ESPN set during an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/ESPN, Scott Clarke)

"You want to have a guy who's strong enough to be in charge," general manager Larry Riley said Monday night. "Mark has a strong personality -- not abrasive, but he has a strong personality and should have the right mix to be able to lead our team."

Yes, even the Warriors have to couch this hiring with words such as "should have" and "we think," because Jackson has a long career as a player and now offbeat announcer, but no track record as the boss.

Nobody knows what kind of offense he will run, what kind of players he will lean on (other than the point guard) and how he will deal with the daily grind of the media and the like.

Jackson doesn't know. Lacob doesn't know. All the players in the league who like and respect him -- and there are many -- have no idea.

Advertisement

That doesn't mean Jackson will fail. Certainly, plenty of coaches with gargantuan track records have failed miserably, and a few guys with similarly thin résumés as Jackson's have succeeded in the league.

But this is still a dramatically risky pick by Lacob -- his first major coaching hire, made at a major threshold moment for his franchise.

New executive board member Jerry West emphasized that Lacob felt a strong chemistry with Jackson, which was the most important thing for the Warriors to find in a coach.

"Joe is really excited about it, and I think that is to me of paramount importance," West said by phone late Monday night. "I think it's a good night for everybody up there.

"It's the start of trying to do something a little bit differently and build a better team and imprint Joe and Peter (Guber)'s style on this team."

There is a chance Jackson will be a complete bust and that we will know it by January. There is that chance.

Lacob just hired West and Bob Myers to steady the front office. He has decisions to make about Monta Ellis, the style of play and adding a center.

Lacob needs a coach he can trust to make long-term evaluations and to properly implement the big-picture decisions handed down by West and others in upper management.

And Mark Jackson is really the best guy to do this?

"I think it's been a really good day for the Warriors -- and maybe there will be more good news to come tomorrow possibly," West said, referring to both the Jackson hire and the possibility of adding assistant Mike Malone to Jackson's staff.

"We'll have a solid staff in place, and that's a building block. They can live with these people not for one or two years, but they'll have a place in building this franchise to not only where Joe wants it but where the fans want it."

Well, we know by now that Lacob is a risk-taker, and this is now his No. 1 risk.

To get to Jackson, Lacob bypassed more conventional choices such as Dwane Casey and Lawrence Frank, and he apparently didn't connect with San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer in a face-to-face in Texas last week.

My belief is that West didn't push any single candidate on Lacob but perhaps advised him that it would be fresher to pick someone who hadn't already tried and failed as a head coach.

To back up their bet on Jackson, Riley confirmed that the Warriors are intent on putting together a strong coaching staff, with New Orleans' Malone as a leading name.

But really what sold the Warriors on Jackson wasn't the staff he could put together or his philosophies (which are unknown). It wasn't what he did as a point guard or the many friends he made around the league.

It was the cut of Jackson's jib -- and the way Lacob, West, Riley and Myers believe that his jib-ness will communicate to and resonate with NBA players.

"We do feel very comfortable that here's a guy we can work with, and he's going to have some real strengths in regards to communicating with players," Riley said.

"And I've mentioned a couple times a strong personality, there's some leadership in this guy that's important to us."

How can he make the jump from TV table to leading a team against the Lakers, the Spurs and the Thunder? With personality.

What qualities about Jackson will mesh with Stephen Curry, David Lee and the rest in a way that departed coach Keith Smart could not? Jackson's personality, of course.

Why will the Warriors play better defense under Jackson, who certainly was not known as a defensive stopper as a player?

His personality will tell them to, apparently.

"I believe that he'll be able to get our defense where we want to go," Riley said. "I know he has the strength of personality -- that's probably the third time I've said it."

That's a lot of times. But if it's true, it's true: The Warriors aren't an easy team to coach, and Lacob thinks a strong dose of attitude and confidence can overcome a complete lack of most other qualifying traits.

It's a risk. Not a small one. When Lacob says he is willing to take them, he isn't kidding. It's just his personality.